SOUTH AMERICA

On 22nd October 2012, I arrived in Buenos Aires with my Yamaha XT660Z Tenere. From there I rode south to Ushuaia and then turned north to follow the Andes towards Colombia.

In Patagonia, after only a few weeks on the road, I damaged my transmission and had to park up for 6 weeks to wait for spares. During that time I had my passport stolen, extending my wait. It was during this enforced delay, in Santiago, that the journey took a major turn – I met Paulina Ulloa, who was later to become my girlfriend and riding partner.

I continued north through Chile, Argentina and Bolivia as far as Peru, where I stopped for three months in the Sacred Valley, near Cusco. In August 2013 I found myself heading south again – back to Santiago and Paulina where I stayed for another few months. After following the Dakar Rally in January 2014, Paulina and I then rode from northern Chile to Ecuador and back to Peru – 12,000km over six months. Thereafter Peru gradually became home, in Huaraz and the Sacred Valley, interspersed with trips to the US, Chile, Bolivia and back to UK.

After 53,000km and nearly three years, I finally said farewell (temporarily, I suspect) to South America in July 2015.